Category Archives: Plant Portraits
Square Stems & Other Botanical Curiosities
Studying taxonomic classification and “keying” out the physical characteristics of plants almost 18 years ago was incredibly absorbing, but the detailed vocabulary has mostly slipped from memory from disuse. Still, it’s a rare occasion that I look at a salvia … Continue reading
Into The Fog
Every August we head for mists and fogs, usually those that creep on cat’s paws and shroud the coastline of Oregon. But this year, squeezed by budget and time constraints, we took the advice of Far Out Flora and Gardenbook … Continue reading
Posted in garden travel, Plant Portraits
Tagged Angelica stricta 'Purpurea', Bupleurum fruticosum, Digging Dog Nursery, Digitalis lanata, Echeveria agavoides 'Ebony', eucomis, Kniphofia thompsonii var. snowdenii, Lobelia tupa, MacKerricher State Park, Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, Mendocino Headlands State Park, Van Damme State Park
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Foliage Follow-Up August 2011
Thank goodness Pam at Digging hosts a Foliage Follow-Up to May Dreams Gardens Bloom Day. The blooming lineup in my July Bloom Day post can stand in with very little revision for August. Holding down the fort and keeping the … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bloom Day, Plant Portraits, succulents
Tagged ' Amicia zygomeris, ' Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost, Achillea ageratum, Agave 'Mr. Ripple', Anemanthele lessoniana, Aralia cordata ‘Sun King’, Arundo donax 'Golden Chain, Coreopsis 'Full Moon', Coronilla valentina subsp. glauca, Cupressus macrocarpa 'Citriodora', Darrell Probst, Dorycnium hirsutum, Echeveria 'Opal Moon', Echium gentianoides 'Tajinaste', Euphorbia bracteata, Leycesteria formosa 'Golden Lanterns', Musa 'Siam Ruby', Olea europaea 'Little Ollie', Passiflora sanguinolenta, Phormium 'Alison Black', Stipa arundinacea, Tanacetum vulgare 'Isla Gold', Teucrium 'Fairy Dust', Trombetta di Albenga
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Begonia partita
The begonia genus is so vast, that the best approach is to find a guide or mentor to help wade through the many species and hybrids to find the really interesting plants and those most suitable to your tastes and … Continue reading
Occasional Daily Photo 7/29/11
Echeveria ‘Afterglow’ and Allium senescens. This little mid summer-flowering onion is sweet consolation for an allium-less garden up to this point. Unlike me, the early-blooming, flamboyant drumstick alliums don’t enjoy a zone 10 garden and prefer chillier winters. And although … Continue reading
Sherman Gardens & Library
I took the day off yesterday to check out some local nurseries for dahlias and eucomis in flower. (All my eucomis were bought as bulbs, some with leaves purportedly of varieties as dark or darker than ‘Oakhurst,’ but all instead … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, garden travel, garden visit, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Agave 'Royal Spine', Agave ferdinandi-regis, Agave macroacantha 'Blue Ribbon', Agave ovatifolia, Begonia luxurians, Echinocactus grusonii, Eriogonum giganteum, Matthew V. Maggio, Nicolaia elatior, Pacific Horticulture, Sherman Library & Gardens, succulent garden
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Bloom Day July 2011
We’re a tad overexposed and on the run… a day late for Bloom Day, the 15th of every month, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. More photos after the jump.
Posted in Bloom Day, Plant Portraits
Tagged Alcea rugosa, Anigozanthos hybrids, Buddleia 'Silver Anniversary', Centranthus ruber 'Alba', Elegia fistulosa, Gaura lindheimeri, Grevillea 'Superb', Knautia macedonia, Leycesteria formosa 'Golden Lanterns', Manihot grahamii, Musa sumatrana ‘Zebrina', Persicaria amplexicaule, Ricinus communis 'New Zealand Purple', Salvia 'Waverly', Salvia chiapensis, Salvia involucrata, Scabiosa atropurpurea 'Black Knight'
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Occasional Daily Photo 7/11/11
Brugmansia hybrid ‘Charles Grimaldi.’ Incredibly voluptuous, scented trumpets…on a plant that rivals the hybrid tea rose for awkward growth and ugly legs. Just haven’t found the right approach yet to placing these subtropical shrubs in a zone 10 landscape, where … Continue reading
Mystery Mullein
Of all the old seed packets kept stuffed in cigar boxes and metal tins, this one wasn’t saved. Started from seed from Chiltern’s about two years ago. One central inflorescence branching into smaller spikes. Leaves are green, not grey and … Continue reading